Flexible liners are oftentimes utilized in conjunction with intermediate bulk containers which are typically 42 to 48 inches is length, width and height, to ship large quantities of liquid, viscous or granular products. A problem long associated with the use of such liners has been the complete or near-complete evacuation of the contents from within the liner. As such, some liners have utilized pressurized regions to lift or angle the bottom of the liner or to move the interior sidewalls inwardly so as to move the contents closer to the outlet of the liner. While these devices have aided in the evacuation of the liner they can still result in rather large quantities of content remaining within the liner. This type of container also requires the use of additional pressurizing equipment to pressurize the inflatable regions.
Liners have also been designed with only a top fitment so that a vacuum hose head may be positioned within the top fitment to vacuum out the contents of the liner. A problem associated with this type of liner has been that as the contents are evacuated the liner material oftentimes folds and contacts another portion of the liner, thereby blocking the evacuation path. As such, an unacceptable amount of content material may again remain within the liner.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a device to aid with a more efficient evacuation of the liner's contents, especially those used with intermediate bulk containers. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.